Vivien and I were in the same year at university and became friends there. We were both pretty nerdy there. She is quite a genius and was in our school year 2 years younger than me and most, which I found quite impressive besides her great ambition. To the outside world, she seemed rather cold and dismissive, which many thought was arrogant. I judged this more as insecurity and saw an interesting person behind this facade.
So I did my best to break through this protective wall again and again and loved to tease her, with which I could really drive her up the wall. There were many moments when she blushed and stared at me angrily. Still, she seemed to like my attention and played along with my game.
We spent a lot of time together in our study group and got through the first year at university reasonably unscathed. Slowly a good momentum had developed, I had the feeling to understand Vivien very well and my advances to her became more daring without consciously controlling it. We were both in a relationship with someone else, but neither of us was happy with it. We unconsciously became like substitutes for each other and our conversations more intimate.